<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<ul id="myList">
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea</li>
</ul>

<p>Click the button to insert an item to the list.</p>

<button onclick="myFunction()">Try it</button>

<p><strong>Example explained:</strong><br>First create a LI node,<br> then create a Text node,<br> then append the Text node to the LI node.<br>Finally insert the LI node before the first child node in the list.</p>

<script>
function myFunction() {
  var newItem = document.createElement("LI");
  var textnode = document.createTextNode("Water");
  newItem.appendChild(textnode);
  var list = document.getElementById("myList");
  list.insertBefore(newItem, list.firstChild);
  window.alert(document.getElementsByTagName("BODY")[0].outerHTML);
}
</script>

</body>
</html>
